Words to Live By: Faith

The second in the series Words to Live By. Today’s Word to Live By: Faith

In my first Words to Live By post I talked about Accepting where I was and even though I wanted to change it, I was better off accepting it and going with the flow rather than fighting it. It wasn’t about surrendering or giving up. InJapan, they actually have ‘accept’ as part of their thinking – inItalythere is a saying “there it is” or “there you have it”.

Today I want to talk about faith. Faith can obviously be about you, your God, the Universe, and in others. My situation was faith in me and in God. For you atheists and agnostics, don’t worry, this still applies to you – faith in you and your neighbor.

In my first post I talked about how I was working for an employer that represented things one way at the beginning and things were much different shortly after I started. There were issues around payment to me, changes in strategy and he got hostile for all sorts of reasons. I thought life was miserable. I wanted to move on as soon as I could with a new job. The economy wasn’t great, I didn’t have any real capital or reserves, and I was having trouble getting an interview. Some people told me I had too much experience, that they typically hire graduates right out of college. Other jobs had requirements that I didn’t have, so I was underqualified.I did get a few offers but the pay rate was very low and it wouldn’t sustain my family.

I got upset each morning. My stomach was often sick. I think I had an ulcer. I had very little motivation. I spent lots of time thinking what would happen if I lost my job, all sort of things. I got panicked. As I said in the previous post, I then accepted the situation. I still sent out resumes, I connected with old colleagues and friends and I networked with new ones. I took action in typical ways and I tried to think of new ways to market myself.

It wasn’t easy but I had to let go. I had to have faith in my actions, in myself, in others, and in God/the Universe/The Source, or whatever you call it.

My wife reminded me that ‘it will work out’ and that I had options. I remember reading something that said ‘it is already working out’. Many things in life happen on a timeline that is different from what we want. I had to send the resumes, make the calls, reach out AND still work in my current job. By focusing on things that were positive, things that I was grateful for, and things that I could actually change, I felt better.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t just go about it with casual regard. I had lists and a plan. I did my thing but then I had to let go. I kept reminding myself that the new opportunity will probably be something that I can’t imagine how or what it is. Author Mike Dooley says that these are the ‘cursed how’s’ – in other words focusing on the how it often not a good thing. Focus on the why, focus on the end result that you want (the big picture), take action and then have faith that you’ll get there.

Dr. Wayne Dyer says we are connected to the Source. He says that when we are inspired, great things can happen. We need to let go and let God. Dyer talks about how our ego isn’t comfortable with this sort of thing, nor is our logic. I’m a big logic guy and while that helps in some cases, not when you need to have faith. Our egos say ‘I’m the one that will make it happen, its all about me’. While it may be true that we’re connected to it all and that we are brilliant beings, it is about much more than just ‘me’. The ego wants the credit. The logic wants the step by step plan. The fears in us want the certain and stability and security.

Faith is about a trust in ourselves. We can help this faith by looking back at positive references in our life. “I’ve been a great manager and had these challenges before and I can do things bigger than my current challenge” or whatever your situation is – you’ve probably faced something like it, or bigger, before – probably a few times – and you succeeded.

Faith is about trusting that the world is out to bring you good things – it is conspiring to help you. It is about having faith in your fellow human being. Yes, we all get slapped but generally life brings good.

Think about someone you know who is confident, has certainty, someone who has faith in themselves or faith in their life. They’re confident right? They are generally positive and probably better to be around than the person who is negative and doesn’t have faith.

Faith brought me good things. It wasn’t overnight but a better opportunity, a surprise, came to me. I also know that my quality of life was better once I embraced faith. Faith did bring me more happiness and more money, I am closer to abundance because of faith.